User:Bluebolt94/Emma Summerhayes

Emma Summerhayes is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders portrayed by Anna Acton. Emma was introduced on 21 April 2014 as the Police Family Liaison Officer for the Beales after Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) is murdered.

Storyline
Emma informs Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) that his daughter, Lucy, has been found dead. Suspect Max Branning (Jake Wood) comforts Emma when she confides in him that her engagement has just been broken off, leading to Max and Emma starting a relationship. Emma gets a new boss, DI Samantha Keeble (Alison Newman) and Emma feels further worried when she discovers Keeble investigated Max before.

Max is suspicious of Charlie Cotton (Declan Bennett), when Emma finds out he is impersonating a police officer, she tries to arrest him but he tells Emma he is a Special Operations Officer and threatens to report her. After Emma ends her relationship, Max retaliates by placing an anonymous call to the police telling them that they are in a relationship. Emma is taken off the case and her job is on the line. Max tries to reconcile with Emma, but when she reveals that she is still engaged to her fiance, Cameron Bryant (Glen Wallace), he is furious. Afterwards, Emma tells Max that she loves him and has left Cameron for good. She introduces Max to her parents, Henry (Will Knightley) and Margot (Jill Baker) who eventually accept Max.

Keeble asks her to supply information on the Brannings. Emma agrees and hands her Lauren Branning's (Jacqueline Jossa) laptop but soon regrets this and later confesses to Lauren what she has done. Cameron tells Emma it was Max that placed the anonymous phone call to the police about their relationship, so she ends her relationship with Max. Lee posts an anonymous envelope to Emma containing proof that Lauren was not entirely truthful about her alibi. After viewing the clip, Emma shows it to Lauren, who gets very defensive while denying her role in the murder, and accuses Emma of continuing to spy on her and her family. Later that night, Max admits to Emma that her passion for her job is what made him fall in love with her, and that he only acted out of fear of losing her. She later admits to Max that she is also scared of their relationship not ending well, and both admit neither of them want it to end, so agree to try to rebuild their relationship from scratch. After a few drinks in The Queen Victoria with the Beales and the Brannings, Emma makes a phone call to whom she believes to be the killer, asking to meet them. She later meets them in a park in order to try and convince them to hand themselves in to the police. She is hit by a car and initially appears to be okay, however when she later collapses and starts to bleed from her ear, Max takes her to hospital. Emma dies in hospital from a bleed to the brain. However, Carol finds Emma's case notes that she reviewed the night before in Max's kitchen cupboard.

Creation and development
It was announced on 17 April 2014 that Anna Acton had been cast in the role of DC Emma Summerhayes to investigate the murder of Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater). A show source said that Acton has a large role to play in one of the biggest storylines of EastEnders, adding that "She is the one who hopes to be able to pinpoint the killer and to begin with there are plenty of suspects." Acton was cast alongside Glen Wallace, who plays DS Bryant. Adam Woodyatt, who plays Lucy's father Ian Beale stated that they came in cold to a "very well-oiled machine", adding that they did little rehearsals and started shooting immediately. Woodyatt explained that after the Beales have been told, the grief goes on, and those first episodes are almost like the "tip of the iceberg."

It was announced on 20 December 2014 that a character would be killed off on 1 January. Producers deceived to keep the "unlucky victim's" identity hidden until the transmission of the episode. A trailer was released showing a car crash which will hit through the square, but viewers would have to wait to see if this is the reason of the character's death or if the character dies in other circumstances. It was shown in the episode broadcast on the 2 January 2014 that Emma was the victim as a result of a bleed to the brain after being hit by the car driven by Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons). As Emma wasn't checked over by paramedics at the time of the crash, she did not receive the medical help that she needed until it became apparent that something was wrong.